


Rectified Mistakes

by Witch_of_History



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28183608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witch_of_History/pseuds/Witch_of_History
Summary: Marinette doesn't go as far as to reveal herself to Adrian when they're in their normal lives, but her behavior is obsessive at best and stalker-like at worst. It even seeps into when she is Ladybug, like when she tries to give Adrian the snake miraculous and pushed it even when it was clear it wasn't meant for him.Adrian is obsessed with Ladybug and it shows when he is Chat Noir, his constant flirting and distracted attitude during their fights is clear as day to anyone who looks. He pushes her in more ways than one, always trying to get her to say yes to his affections when he should have stopped at "no" the first time.When Marinette is called out on her actions, she gets upset at first but takes time to correct them. She starts moving on not for herself, but for Adrian.Chat Noir is offended when Ladybug stands up to him, but ultimately realizes that she's right and he pulls away for her comfort.Both miserable in the knowledge of their mistakes, they come together for one of their nights on Marinette's balcony and something healthy starts to bloom from an honest and open friendship. Somethingright.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. Marinette

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on how they should get together because any other way would probably _not_ be healthy like stated in the summary, but mostly because i love their dynamic the most. 
> 
> This is a series of short chapters to show their development leading to the last chapter which is going to be longer, to wrap up this entire thing. Have fun! No commenting "update please" if that is all you have to say. I will update when I can and try to be timely about it considering this is a shorter story.

The world functioned exactly as it usually did up until Marinette made a simple mistake. She got caught. Or at least, she got noticed. Adrien might have been oblivious and trusting at times, but he was also Chat Noir with just less intense instincts when he wasn’t suited up. “Father, I think someone has been following me.”

Gabriel, being who he was, took the opportunity to find him a body guard that he wouldn’t dare to lose, unlike his current employee. It just so happened that there was a self defense teacher from America that was recommended to him who would work nicely. She was in her twenties, having trained since she was five, and made a point of telling all of her students that she was still learning just as much as they were. Adrian immediately agreed and that was that. 

And then Marinette  _ actually _ got caught. 

* * *

It was business as usual with her staring longingly at Adrian from her seat and trying to talk to him like a normal person, but she was intimidated by his new body guard. She looked at everyone like they were a criminal and only really relaxed around Ayla and Nino. For some reason, she wasn’t fond of Marinette. 

The reason for this came to light when Adrian was at fencing practice and they met face to face. “I thought it was you who was following him, afterall, I’ve seen the footage of your room.” Panic started to set in, whether this new bodyguard was going to stop her from being friends with Adrian or not she would most likely tell him it was her and then he’d never talk to her again because he’d think she was weird―“Marinette, I need you to breathe. I’m hoping that I don’t have to tell Adrian about this at all, not if you listen to me.” The bodyguard didn’t give her a second to speak, instead pushing forward the second Marinette wasn’t hyperventilating. “I know you’re his friend, but it isn’t okay that you’re taking this so far. Adrien has me because he’s  _ scared _ . He thinks he has a stalker and he does.  _ You _ . I know you care for him because he’s told me how wonderful you are in school, but your behavior is abusive.”

“I would never hurt Adrian!” Marinette’s protests died in her throat with the look the bodyguard lady gave her. 

“I’m changing Adrien’s schedule and if I see you following us at any point, or listening too closely when we talk about things, I will not hesitate to suggest a restraining order.” With that, she spun on her heels and walked away as if nothing had happened. 

She could feel the tears threatening to boil over as she turned and ran, not even caring that her friends had been waiting for her outside and would surely see her. She hid in the bathroom until she could breathe, comforted soon after by Alya’s arms around her. “She accused me of hurting Adrian!” While the other girls sat and listened, Marinette explained through her tears. “Like I would ever.”

Instead of offering comfort like she expected, Alix was nodding her head as Alya glared at her, the rest of them having betrayed and confused looks on their faces. Alix was quick to defend herself, saying, “I’m sorry his bodyguard was so harsh about it, but you’ve got to admit that you’re obsessive and it's gotten out of control. When he found out about your room, what were you worried about? Him finding out about your crush, or being scared?” 

The words were on the tip of her tongue and Alya looked ready to fight, but it all made sense. “I didn’t realize I had gotten this bad.” A new round of tears slipped down her cheeks, though these came from remorse. How could she have been so blind? “I think I’m going to be missing the movie tonight, I’d like to go home and talk to my mother.” 

“I’ll walk you, girl.” 

* * *

It was a long week. After a long conversation with her mother about what was healthy admiration and what was a little too intense, Marinette had thrown out most of the photos she had of Adrian and had brought it to a more manageable level. By the seven day mark of her slowly breaking her habits around him, the bodyguard lady had stopped going into school with him but would be sticking around in case this was just a lull instead of it being over. 

“She said she wouldn’t tell him, you have nothing to worry about,” Alya tried to assure her, but her fear was keeping her rooted to the spot as Adrian and Nino walked over to them. “He’s still your friend.” 

Before Marinette could start apologizing, Nino caught her eye and put on a bright smile. “So where’s your bodyguard? Did she figure out that no one in the school would wanna hurt you?” 

Adrian nodded easily. “She figured it out pretty quickly, but she didn’t mention anything about who so I’m sure it's not anyone here. She did say that it was an over eager fan who meant no harm, apparently they talked and when they realized what they were doing freaked me out so they backed down and sent their apologies. I had hoped it was something that simple, but with all the akuma attacks I was afraid I had upset someone.” 

“Like Nino said, no one in school would ever want to hurt you.” It was the first full sentence she had been able to say to him recently, and though that was progress, she found herself unable to speak when he thanked her.  _ Baby steps. _

Though it was her fault in the first place, it was nice to see how much calmer Adrian was once the situation was resolved. It reminded her of someone, or  _ she _ reminded herself of someone that had been acting similarly in relation with her. Unashamed. Not respecting boundaries, taking advantage of friendship, hurting others, being petty. Maybe if she talked to him, they could heal. Like her and Adrian. 

So on patrol, when it seemed like Hawkmoth was taking a night off after his most recent attack, she asked if they could talk. “Is this where you tell me that you’ve finally agreed to go on a date with me?” He batted his lashes at her and stepped closer, mere breaths away from her body. 

She sits down with him to have a conversation and starts to say something, but he gets a little too close and asks if this is when she realizes she actually likes him. “No, Chat!” She shoved him away from her instantly, pulling her arms across her stomach defensively. “I  _ hate _ it when you do this because I know you’re a good friend and then when this happens it makes me question everything. If I can continue being your partner. Not because I don’t like you, but because I’m  _ uncomfortable _ . And sometimes, I’m scared.” 

He frowned at her and looked like she’d just insulted him. “You could have just said no, you don’t need to make such a big deal out of rejecting me, you know. I remember that you’re ‘in love’ with someone else, I’m not blind.” 

She didn’t back down, not this time. “I want to be your friend, and maybe we could be more than that,” she paused at his hopeful expression, taking another step back, “but you need to understand that you’ll lose me as  _ both _ if you don’t start respecting my boundaries.” 

Chat Noir finally seemed to start listening, and her confidence grew. “What do you want from me? What if this is just who I am?” 

“It’s not, or I wouldn’t have tried talking to you. I would have just left.” Ladybug took a deep breath as she prepared herself to recite the lines she’d worked on with Tiki. “First of all, I hate it when you call me bugaboo. It’s fine when you say m’lady, but that specific nickname is childish and demeaning. Second of all, trying to guilt me into a relationship by putting both of us in danger of an akuma is hurtful. It’s...it’s emotional abuse and I refuse to put up with it. Not to mention when you touch me and I try to shake you off, or show I’m uncomfortable and you don’t  _ listen. _ It makes me confused because I’m okay with our friendship, but you push it too far sometimes and I can’t…” 

He didn’t even say anything as he disappeared off the rooftop, cutting both their conversation and patrol short. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but it still hurt. She heard him detransform and though she wished she could stop herself, she listened. 

“I love her, how could she believe that I would hurt her like that? I would never do anything like what she suggested, I couldn’t! Everything I do is to protect her because I care about her! She’s got this all wrong!” 

Plagg, the other kwami, doesn’t try to comfort him like she expected and it was nice to hear him whisper something snappish back, though she had no idea what. When Chat just huffed, Plagg grew louder. “You say you love her, like your  _ dad _ loves you?” Silence. This wasn’t something she was meant to hear, so she moved away as quickly as possible. Her heart ached to think that Chat’s father might be the reason he acted as he did, but it wasn’t an excuse. It was a reason, but he needed to listen when she said it wasn’t okay. 

Footsteps signaled Chat’s return to the rooftop, and the apology he whispered seemed to be real. But she said she accepted the apology, instead of forgiving him. That would come with action instead of pretty words. 


	2. Chat Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat could feel the anger and hurt rolling around inside him, so he went to the only person who he could talk to about things. Ladybug always had everything together and since it was about her, that was out of the question. There was nothing Adrien could reveal that wouldn't cause Alya's reporter senses to spark, even if he just told Nino. So that left his best friend. Marinette.

He felt like such an idiot after his conversation with Ladybug, how could he have done that to her when he knew how it felt to be pushed around? Though all he wanted to do was curl up into bed and wallow in his own misery like the dramatic jerk he apparently was, he knew he needed to do something first.  _ What if I’m not just like that with Ladybug? _

He found Marinette out on her balcony looking up at the stars with a tired smile when she caught sight of him. “Hi Kitty, I wasn’t expecting you tonight.” 

“Why are you out here looking like you need some time to think?” He knew he was avoiding his own thoughts and fears, but he wasn’t quite ready to lose this friendship too if he was right about his behavior like he feared. “Are you working on a project that you need help with? I know a thing or two about fashion.” 

She laughed gently like she was actually enjoying talking to him, so that was a good sign. “No, I wish it was that simple.” She moved so he could sit next to her on the bench and offered part of her blanket as well. “A friend called me out for pushing his boundaries recently, and I’ve been struggling to come to terms with that. I love my friends and the thought of hurting them kills me, but it isn’t about me,” she almost whispered, refusing to meet his eyes. “It's about him and making sure he feels safe around me.” She wiped away a few tears, shaking her head. “Sorry, you probably don’t want to talk about my problems.” 

Chat leaned back to look at the sky, hoping it would stop him from crying along with her. “I understand. I guess we’ve both made mistakes when it comes to showing people we care about them, since I doubt Ladybug will be sharing patrols with me any time soon.” 

She turned to him with furrowed brows, probably confused about what had happened to break up the dynamic duo of Paris. 

“I thought I was in love with her,” he admitted to the stars, not daring to look back. “Turns out I wasn’t, I just loved her. There’s a difference you know. When you’re in love with someone, you fall together like a meteor shower because even if you’re not falling as fast as the other person, you’re on the same path. Like your parents, they’re in love.” She let him talk even though she was probably wondering why he used  _ her _ parents as an example instead of his own. “Romantic love isn’t all that different from obsession, not really, not when it's one sided like mine for her.” 

Marinette put her head on his shoulder, yawning quietly. “I think you’re right, but Ladybug must love you and I know my friend loves me. Just not in the way we want, so we try so hard to make them change their minds about us, prove they love us the way we want ....” 

“We push them away when we should be accepting their friendship love. When did you get all wise, Princess?” 

She shrugged as best she could in the position they were in. “When I’ve been in emotional turmoil for a week and talked to my mom for at least three hours about what makes a good relationship, while slowly having to unravel all of my own bad behavior.” 

He whistled lowly for a second before letting them fall into a sad silence, both of them thinking about all of the shit they’d been through recently. “You know I don’t want to hurt you, princess, and I refuse to lose someone else with my bad behavior. Is there anything that I do that makes you uncomfortable? I know there was that whole misunderstanding with…” they both blushed darkly at the reminder of when her parents thought they were dating. 

Marinette turned to face him fully and gave him an affectionate smile that made him blush for some reason.  _ It has been a long time since anyone looked at me like that. _ “You’ve always been super careful around me because I’m a civilian, which I understand and appreciate, but I’m not going to shatter, kitty. From now on, I swear to tell you if I need space.” So he promised her the same in return because he’d like to have one person he could be almost completely honest with, the only secret being his normal identity. “Ladybug will forgive you,” she assured him easily, like there was no doubt in her mind that it would happen. “Just give her some time to realize you’re trying to fix it.” 

“That boy you were talking about?” he responded because her words were the only thing that had made him feel better all night and he wanted to give her a bit of that comfort. “He’d be crazy not to understand. Just smile at him, princess, and he’ll be too busy falling in love with you to have any hard feelings.” 

They both blushed when they realized how close they were together, almost like they were going to kiss after talking about their toxic love for two other people. He pulled away slowly like it was completely intentional, making his way to the balconies edge. “Good night Kitty,” Marinette whispered. 

He tipped an imaginary hat as he launched himself up onto the roof next door, surprised to find himself hesitating to leave fully when she was still sitting out there in the cold.  _ Maybe I should go back until she’s ready to sleep?  _

“Alya,” she cried out frantically and it took him a second to realize she had called her best friend in response to his visit. She lowered her voice like she knew he was listening, but nothing got past his cat ears. “Chat Noir just stopped by and we talked and I think a moment happened between us? and I’m calling you because”―she paused to take a breath, probably because Alya was yelling at her to. “Things have just settled down with me and  _ you know who _ and now here Chat comes in, promising not to hurt me and asking me to tell him if he makes me uncomfortable and I promised to do the same but what if I screw it up? He’s been such an amazing friend, Alya, I can’t lose him ―” 

He had started moving when he realized where her phone call was going, chastising himself for what was probably not the best behavior for him to be participating in after this whole deal.  _ If one good thing came out of this, I know Marinette is just as afraid of losing me as I am her.  _


	3. Adrien

Ever since this new bodyguard showed up, Adrian hadn’t felt that presence on his back. Of course there was paparazzi and fans who recognized him in the street, but it wasn’t as constant as it had been. It seemed as if as soon as Ladybug sat him down for that talk, his normal life was improving even though his partner in defeating crime was still distant. They had agreed to less patrols together to cover more ground and to give each other space, but to keep their comms on to talk. Once a week they’d meet on a rooftop to chat and be together. Tonight was the second of those nights. 

“I appreciate you giving me this, it says a lot that you’re willing to be separated in order to make me more comfortable.” He’d slipped up a few days ago, flirting with her during an attack to the point where she got distracted and almost got injured. It was just one more wake up call. “You’re my best friend, you know. I didn’t ask this of you because I wanted to get away from you.” 

He nodded even as his chest tightened. “I understand. You needed space from what I was doing, not me personally. Maybe once I get better at this, do you think we could start meeting more? Like this?” 

Ladybug beamed at him and even offered him her hand to hold while she promised him. “I think we should always have our own patrols on some days, but I do miss seeing you more than once a week. When you get better at being my friend, I’d like to do this more.” Their relationship wasn’t perfect, nor was it going to ever get to where it was before any time soon, but she didn’t flinch away from him as much. And she smiled. So he’d take it and work harder until she didn’t flinch at all, and the word ‘bugaboo’ was out of his vocabulary. 

Even though his relationship with Ladybug was still mending, Marinette was starting to ease up around him a lot more and it was a relief. Even though he knew they were friends, New York had proved that if he had any lingering doubts, but she had finally started being able to talk to him in full sentences and wouldn’t hesitate to greet him in the halls. 

“Adrian! It looks like we’re going to be partners for this project. Do you have any free time to work on it this week outside of school? He was brought out of his thoughts by her taking Nino’s usual spot, though she blushed when he stared at her. “Is everything okay?” 

He shook his head gently, sending a smile her way. “It is, thank you. I was just going over my schedule in my head and got a little distracted to be honest. I have two hours after school since a shoot was cancelled, it's supposed to rain. I could ask my father?” She nodded eagerly and he was reminded of how many times he’d dropped onto her balcony in the past two weeks. Honestly, the only nights he couldn’t were when he met up with Ladybug or there was an akuma attack. “Will your parents mind?” 

“Never, they love when I bring my friends over because apparently, you all need to eat more. The only reason they don’t tell Alya too is because she doesn’t hesitate to eat any of our food.” Marinette paused, tapping her lip in thought. “Now at least, it took a few years for her to give in.” 

“Best decision of my life!” Alya declared cheekily as she turned in her seat, hugging Marinette over the desk. “Honestly, I don’t think I would survive without your parents' pastries at this point. They’re all I eat since my maman is usually too tired to cook and papa knows nothing.” Marinette and Nino were nodding their heads in understanding, so Adrian didn’t voice his confusion over why the chef in the family didn’t cook for them. 

They were dismissed soon after, so it wasn’t as if he would have had the time anyway. He shot off a quick text to Natalie while they walked to their next class, tapping Marinette’s arm lightly when he got a positive response. “Would you like to take the limo or walk when we head to your house?” 

She beamed at the good news. “We can walk if it's not too much trouble, I know Chira will have to be driven to the front of the school no matter what but it is only a short walk…” she started to ramble, before taking a deep breath and cutting herself off. “So it's up to you.” 

“I like walking with you and it will please my father that I’ll be exercising instead of just staring at a screen the whole time.”

* * *

When school ended, Adrian waited patiently at the door for Marinette and jokingly offered his arm like he would if he was Chat. He was about to pull away and apologize when she took his arm with a soft blush and whispered, “ _ merci _ .” 

For some reason, most of the girls in their class were giggling as they said goodbye and giving Marinette thumbs up. Maybe they knew about Marinette’s previous grudge and were as happy as he was that it was over? He was brought out of his thoughts by Marinette pulling away to greet his bodyguard, nervously shuffling on her feet. “Chira, you already know Marinette, we’ll be going to her house to work on a project for school.” 

“Hi!” she squeaked and Chira rolled her eyes in amusement, directing her to show the way because neither of them should have the way to the Dupain-Cheng residence memorized. He did, but no one could know why. Honestly he was just nervous that he was going to say something wrong and ruin everyone’s afternoon. “I told my parents you were coming so they will probably have laid out food for us.” 

“Your parents are always so kind, I see where you get it from.” Whatever denials Marinette would have shared were cut off by the door opening and the Dupen-Cheng’s welcome smiles. “Bonjour, thank you for having us. This is Chira, my new bodyguard. Is it okay if she stays with us?” 

Chira shook her head as she looked at Marinette, tilting her head. “I do not think I will join you upstairs if you do not need me. I have heard only wonderful things about your bakery and would like to buy one of everything! I must try it all.” 

Sabine immediately tried to tell her it wasn’t necessary, but Tom put his foot down. “You may take samples from their tray while I pack everything up. I know better than to argue with a strong woman when she’s right,” he explained, looking at his wife as he spoke and the smile he gave her hurt Adrien’s chest. There was so much love there. When was the last time someone looked at  _ him  _ like that? His mother? 

“Bàba,” Marinette groaned in horror just to tease her parents, shuffling him up the stairs as quickly as possible. “We’ll have to go to my room to get art supplies, but then we can move to the living room so we have more space. I’m sorry if my room is a bit messy, I’ve been moving things around so some of my childhood things are more tucked away. They aren’t really me anymore…” she rambled, but Adrien wasn’t listening. He picked up the black cat he’d given her two nights ago as Cat Noir, a gesture meant to comfort her when he couldn’t be there and that he would always return. She had been understandably concerned when he’d been injured in battle and not even Ladybug had been able to see him before he detransformed. He’d commed her of course, but she’d punched him gently in retaliation as soon as she saw him again. 

He held it out to Marinette with a questioning look. “Where did these come from? Alya said you’d been receiving presents lately…” 

She squeaked again, like she had been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to, and took the stuffed animal back gently as she scrambled into her bed to put it by her pillow.  _ “ _ I...Chat Noir and I are friends. I haven’t told Alya, but he visits me sometimes. And if he’s been stupid like getting hurt, he brings me a gift to make up for it. He gets hurt too much for my liking. At least if he’s on my balcony, I can grab his tail if he starts to fall. ” 

Adrien snorted as he pictured what Plagg would have to say about  _ that _ . He had apparently brought her out of her thoughts and she was back in front of him in an instant, eyes wide with fear as she worried her lip to the point of bleeding.  _ Is that my fault? _

“You can’t tell anyone, he thinks it will put me in danger or will make people think I know his identity or something and then he might stop visiting me or try to pull some trick to make it stop and...” 

_“I can keep a secret, Marinette.”_ He voiced it like a promise, but inside he felt awful that he couldn’t tell her it was okay. That he was Cat, so she hadn’t made a mistake. That he was overjoyed she had kept his gifts and cared about him so much. _“_ Especially this one, because it's important to you and will protect you.” She relaxed instantly and blushed darkly, suddenly uncomfortable in her own room. He decided he should go down to the living room and voiced as such, carrying the materials they would need for their diagram. He takes the time he has before she comes down to downplay the blinding smile that had appeared when he thought about what he would say to her that night as Cat.


End file.
